Iraqi leader reaches out to Shiite group

Iraqi leader reaches out to Shiite group

BAGHDAD

The Iraqi prime minister had talks with a radical Shiite group he once tried to destroy in bloody street battles, both sides said Wednesday, showing his willingness to put aside animosities with some of his fiercest enemies to ensure a second term in office.

Nouri al-Maliki’s outreach to a powerful faction within the Iranian-backed Iraqi National Alliance also could lead to the re-creation of the wide-ranging Shiite alliance that dominated Iraq’s politics for a lengthy stretch after the ouster of Saddam Hussein in 2003.

Final results from the March 7 parliamentary election are expected to be released Friday, but no single group is likely to dominate the 325-member assembly.

Actor Robert Culp dies at age 79

LOS ANGELES

Robert Culp, the actor who teamed with Bill Cosby in the racially groundbreaking TV series “I Spy” and was Bob in the critically acclaimed sex comedy “Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice,” died Wednesday after collapsing outside his Hollywood home, his agent said. Culp was 79.

His manager, Hillard Elkins, said the actor was on a walk when he fell. He was taken to a hospital and pronounced dead just before noon. The actor’s son was told he died of a heart attack, Elkins said, though police were unsure if the fall was medically related.

“I Spy,” which aired from 1965 to 1968, was a television milestone in more ways than one. Its combination of humor and adventure broke new ground, and it was the first integrated television show to feature a black actor in a starring role.

Europeans look at Web privacy laws

GENEVA

You have been tagged in 12 photos — even if you’re not signed up to the Web site.

European regulators are investigating whether the practice of posting photos, videos and other information about people on sites such as Facebook without their consent is a breach of privacy laws.

The actions set the stage for a fresh battle between American Web giants and European authorities a month after an Italian court held three Google executives criminally responsible for a user-posted video.

US, Russia agree on reducing nukes

WASHINGTON

After long and trying negotiations, the U.S. and Russia have reached agreements for a historic new treaty to reduce the nuclear arsenals of the former Cold War rivals, officials said Wednesday. President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev are to sign the pact in two weeks in Prague.

Obama and Medvedev are expected to seal the deal when they talk by telephone this week, setting the stage for a White House campaign to win Senate ratification. The treaty also must win approval by the Russian Duma, and the two legislative processes are likely to take months.

Guest at inaugural dies at age 106

CLEVELAND

A black Ohio woman who attended Barack Obama’s inauguration in her wheelchair shortly after her 105th birthday has died.

Former social worker Ella Mae Johnson traveled to Washington with her nurse in January 2009 and watched as the nation’s first black president was sworn into office. She died Monday at 106.

Johnson received a seat for the inauguration from Ohio’s U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown. She had said: “I want my children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren to be able to say, ‘She was there.’”

Associated Press